SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

May 30, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: Drag Teen by Jeffery Self, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

May 30, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

dragteenPublisher’s Book Description

A fantastic, fabulous, funny YA debut from Jeffery Self, one of the gay icons of the YouTube generation, that follows one high school student on a drag race to his future.

Debut YA author Jeffery Self takes us on a road trip with an insecure high school senior who has one goal: to be the first in his family to leave Clearwater, Florida, and go to college. The problem is, he has zero means of paying for school — until his friends convince him to compete in a drag teen competition for a college scholarship.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Lexi’s Thoughts:

‘I guess that was the whole secret to being confident: the ability to blend.”

It’s to say that this book has made me stop and think about my own life and how I view myself as a person. Many a time have I closed this book and sat in deep thought about how I feel about my body and about being of the non-straight variety. And I come to the realization that I still have issues with who I am and that the only way towards true self love and acceptance is to face these issues face on and to stop being scared of humiliation and mistakes.

Much like JT, all of us have experienced some sort of displeasure with who we are and what we look like and who we like and what we like. We are told to be cookie cutter perfect. But we aren’t meant to be molded to fit what people want. We are meant to mold ourselves into a person we were meant to be all along and this is the lesson JT is struggling with in Drag Teen.

We are given an image of a dumpy gay boy with a stunning boyfriend who is too good for him and a bestfriend who is three times bigger than him and is stuck in the 2000’s. From the get go the insecurities are very known and present.

– His insecurities about being fat.

-His insecurities about being stuck in Clearwater, Florida for the rest of his life pumping gas at his family’s gas station.

-His insecurities that he will inevitably lose his boyfriend because he isn’t good enough.

But it isn’t just his insecurities that are shown but also his friends, Heathers who also struggles with her weight and compensates with sass and a mask of unrelenting will towards what she eats and how much.  Even his perfect boyfriend, Seth, has insecurities about who he is. Because if anything we all fear something or another.

The discovery of a drag teen competition for a full ride is what sets this whole adventure on the road towards New York but it is their struggles to find who they are and the ability to love who themselves. With each obstacle they face JT comes a step closer to being who he was really meant to be, The next Miss Drag Teen USA.

He was born to be glorious and fierce. And much like JT the readers connects in the way that we all struggle to love who we are. We all struggle to accept ourselves and to accept that we aren’t meant to blend: we are meant to stand out and be individuals.

And I am confident in saying that this is one of the most inspirational and funny, heartwarming books I have read. It’s not very often that I walk away from a book and take a life lesson with me but with this one i have and i encourage everyone else to also.

Recommended song: Beautiful by Christina Aguilera

Stay weird, readers

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Drag Teen

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Post-It Note Reviews: Wish granters, brotherly mischief, a high-stakes scavenger hunt, and more!

by Karen Jensen, MLS

March 2023

Book Review: Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave with illustrations by Tom de Freston

by Karen Jensen, MLS

March 2023

Book Review: Different for Boys by Patrick Ness with illustrations by Tea Bendix

by Karen Jensen, MLS

March 2023

Book Review: The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent by Ann Jacobus

by Karen Jensen, MLS

February 2023

Book Review: For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Faced with a Parenting Dilemma? Write a Book About It! Jacob Grant Comes By to Talk About NO FAIR

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Post-It Note Reviews: Wish granters, brotherly mischief, a high-stakes scavenger hunt, and more!

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

SCBWI Announces 2022 Golden Kite Awards

A Peek at the SLJTeen Live! Books

“It’s Not Nancy Drew Out There": Writing Tough Topics for Teens

Claire Eliza Bartlett on Her Feminist Military Fantasy, "We Rule the Night"

Three Debut YA Authors Explore Identity and Connection

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023